Adrien paced in his room silently, thinking about his next course of action as his Father stood at the doorway, waiting for him to speak. Adrien turned towards him abruptly, still mad over the akuma, "Let's get one thing out of the way right at the beginning. I have the Chat Noir miraculous. You have the Hawk Moth miraculous. My miraculous is more powerful than your especially since I have Ladybug's earrings now. You will not have either until I have Marinette,"
"That ring seems to make you forget that I am your father," The man said calmly, no doubt knowing full well that Adrien held the power now.
"You're not my father, you're my business partner and I plan on following my father's example of only keeping business partners that remain useful to me," Adrien snapped, he could tell that he was changing and before all this had happened it might have scared him but now he didn't care. Now all he cared about was making Marinette his and no one else's. "No more akumas without my permission, and don't expect me to be here after dark. I'll be out most nights," He said, planning on visiting Marinette later that night, somewhere she couldn't run away from him.
"I suppose I'll wait for you to need me then, so long as I get the miraculouses when this is all over," He said, recognizing that Adrien was a threat to him at the moment and he had to play along for now.
Adrien just nodded, not watching as his father left the room, instead staring out his window in the direction of Marinette's home. He hoped at least there that no one would stand in his way, after all, he didn't want to hurt anyone any more than he had to.
Marinette had her arms wrapped around herself the entire time Alya walked her home. She barely said a word to her parents before going up to her room, her friend stopping to tell the two that Marinette had had a particularly rough day and wasn't feeling well.
"Hello, Marinette," Said girl let out a quiet scream, whipping around to see Adrien in her room. Upon hearing footsteps rush up the stairs, Adrien swung the trapdoor shut and locked it, ignoring the banging against it as Alya demanded to know what happened, "Sorry my lady, I didn't mean to frighten you," He said with the same charming smile that she had once been in love with, his hand scratching the back of his neck in a classic 'Adrien Agreste' way.
"What are you doing here?" She seethed, wanting nothing more for him to just disappear out of her life forever.
"I wanted to see you my lady," He said simply, walking towards her and making her take an equal amount of steps back, "I want to talk to you about what happened…" He said calmly, holding his hands up in an universal sign for 'I mean no harm'.
"There's nothing to talk about. You betrayed me Adrien, you took my miraculous," Marinette said firmly, her voice cracked a bit as she thought about it again. Taking her miraculous was like taking away a part of her. Ladybug had become a part of who she was and now it was just all gone.
"We don't need them anymore, not if Hawk Moth's identity is exposed. We can just be ourselves now instead of living two lives," He said encouragingly, confident that he had his father under control since he had both miraculouses at the moment.
"What happened to you Adrien, this isn't you." Marinette said desperately, wanting to go back to the time when Adrien was nice and patient and always ready to save the day.
"Nothing happened to me, I just started realizing how much I need you," The sincerity in his voice made Marinette sick. She could tell that he believed every word he was saying, "I was right though, our miraculouses were keeping us apart. I told you everyday how much I loved you only to get rejected in favor of me without my mask. When I found out you were actually Marinette, I knew I had to do everything in my power to bring us together,"
"Adrien… You're scaring me, stop this. Give back my miraculous and we can expose Hawk Moth together. We're partners remember?" Marinette said hesitantly, taking a cautious step forwards.
"Oh I remember," Adrien said bitterly, his expression suddenly darkening, "We were partners, that was all we were. I want more than that now, and I'm going to get it one way or another," Whatever courage Marinette had summoned to take that single step forward disappeared at the sound of venom dripping from Adrien's voice. "You'll come to see things my way soon," He said, before climbing up to Marinette's roof. She only caught a glimpse of him as he transformed and flew away but the only thought that crossed her mind was why Adrien's costume had red accents on it now.
Marinette was hesitant to even go to school the next day, but she found comfort in knowing Alya would be there with her. He knew Alya wouldn't let Adrien get close to her. She felt a dreading sense of paranoia when she saw Alya wasn't already in the classroom but she calmed herself down with the thought that she was just running late.
Marinette sat in her normal seat, rummaging through her bag for her homework, "Good morning princess," She very near screamed at the voice coming from so close to her, nearly falling out of her seat when she realized Adrien was sitting right next to her.
"Go away, that's Alya's seat," Marinette said with a gulp, glancing at the door and hoping she would walk in at any second to help her.
"Sorry princess, but Alya isn't coming to school today, she had a little incident this morning," Adrien said innocently.
Marinette's heart stopped and her blood ran cold, "What happened, what did you do to her?" She asked in a low tone, scared of getting anyone else involved in this.
Adrien laughed softly, "You sound cute when you're all concerned. Don't worry, she's not hurt or anything, just having a hard time getting out of the house,"
Marinette tensed, she'd never known Adrien to be like this. He used to be the nicest person in the world, but now? Now he was obsessive and threatening and she felt completely helpless without Ladybug, "Leave her out of this, this is between you and me," She said defensively. She would hate herself if Alya got hurt because of her.
"You're right," Adrien agreed, "This between you and me, and I plan on keeping it between just you and and me with no one to interfere,"
Marinette frowned, Alya would never stop trying to protect her but doing that might get her hurt, possible even the both of them, "Thank you… for not hurting her…" She said, figuring it couldn't hurt to let Adrien know that keeping Alya safe made her happy.
Adrien beamed like a kitten who was given a treat, "You're welcome, princess," He said happily, content with turning his attention to the teacher for the rest of the class period.
It took half of the class period before Marinette could sit there without glancing at Adrien every thirty seconds as if he were about to attack her but she eventually managed to calm down and focus her energies on the class. She was feeling a lot better by the end of the class period, finding comfort in pretending that nothing had ever happened, but then, when the bell rang.
"How about I walk you home, Marinette. I'd like to have a talk with you," Adrien suggested with an all too kind smile.
She felt like an innocent child was giggling and asking her if she wanted to go kill someone with them, it was entirely unsettling, "I-I don't think so…" She said, unable to come up with a reason why not. Instead she hastily stood up and gathered up her things, watching Adrien do the same.
"Well why not?" Adrien asked, pouting like the cat he was.
It made Marinette's heart ache to be reminded of the kindness of either the Adrien or the Chat Noir that she remembered. He was still like that now but with an undertone of obsession, "I really should be getting home as fast as possible, I need to help my parents at the bakery," She said, saying the first excuse that came to mind.
Adrien brightened at that, following Marinette when she walked out of the classroom, "How about I give you a ride then? You'll get home much faster in a car than by foot,"
Marinette's heart dropped slightly at the offer, not only would that be much more intimate than them walking together, considering they would both be in the back seat together, but she had no excuse for that one, "I-I, um… o-okay…" She said, clenching her fists to keep them from trembling. She had no idea what this new Adrien would do to her, especially if they were alone, and she didn't want to find out, but it seemed she didn't have much of a choice.
Adrien grinned brightly, leading Marinette out of the school and to the black car waiting for them. He held the door open for her like she always imagined him doing as she climbed into the car, scooting over to make room for him to sit next to her. Her hands clenched when he did, feeling like he was far too close for comfort.
"I'm not going to hurt you Marinette, I could never do that," Adrien said, reaching over to cup her hand in his own, "I still love you,"
Marinette took a deep breath, staying silent for a moment, "I used to love you Adrien, a small part of me even used to love Chat Noir. But you broke my trust," She said, pulling her hand away, "You took my miraculous, and you teamed up with Hawk Moth to do it, the very person we were meant to defeat."
"I don't care about Hawk Moth, if you want him gone, he's gone Marinette," Adrien said quickly, "I only care about you,"
"We were supposed to defeat Hawk Moth together, Adrien, as a team," Marinette protested, frustrated that her identity of Ladybug had been stripped of her.
"And what then?" Adrien asked, "Once we defeat Hawk Moth, Paris wouldn't need us anymore. Our miraculouses would become useless and we might even have had to give them back to wherever they came from. We would have never seen each other again and never been able to know each other's true identities."
Marinette frowned, about to protest but finding the words stuck in her throat. Adrien was right, everything would have ended so abruptly she wouldn't even have a chance to reveal her identity if she wanted to.
Adrien reached for her hand again, holding it a bit more firmly than last time, "I've respected your wish to keep our identities a secret for a long time and it killed me inside every time I had to watch you leave. I wanted to know who you were so that I could love you all the time, not just the limited time I was allowed, being distracted by an akuma the entire time."
Marinette stared at her lap silently as the car stopped in front of her home. She pulled her hand away again, looking out the window, "Goodbye Adrien," She opened the door and walked out of the car without another word, walking into her home and going up to her room to spend a long time contemplating their conversation.
Adrien threw a chair across his room in frustration, taking deep breaths to calm down, ignoring the splinters scattered across his floor.
"You need to calm down, kid," Plagg said, flying out of Adrien's jacket, "You're going about this the wrong way," He said as he watched Tikki zip out of his jacket after him to hide somewhere in Adrien's bed.
"Shut up!" Adrien yelled at the kwami, having no patience for the tiny black cat, "You're nothing but a pain in the neck, if I could get rid of you I would," He snapped, glad that he would be giving up his miraculous after getting Marinette.
Plagg persisted, the normally laid-back kwami now seriously trying to get through to Adrien, for everyone's sake, "You're changing, this is all because-"
"Shut up!" Adrien repeated, going as far as to slap Plagg to the side, "I don't want to hear another word out of you or that little bug until I'm ready to transform tonight," He grabbed Plagg by his whisker and dragged him over to the bed to crawl away with the other kwami.
He sighed in irritation, glaring as he sensed his father walking into the room. The addition of a second miraculous had allowed his Chat Noir powers to extend into his civilian life, granting him things like night vision and the ability to sense the things moving around him, "What the hell do you want?" He snapped, not bothering to turn around to face the man. Their relationship was tenser than it had ever been in the past but he liked it better than when he had no control over what his father told him to do.
"I merely came to offer my assistance. I have a method to further persuade Ms Dupain-Cheng to accept your advances," His father said in a less that encouraging tone.
Adrien frowned slightly, turning around to see a translucent purple butterfly in his father's hand. It wasn't like other akuma he had seen in the past. The majority were mostly black with specks of purple but this one was void of the dark color completely, "What is it?"
"It is a variation of the normal akumas I use to possess people. As you know, my akumas feed off of negative energy. Once the akuma enters a person's possession, I then have to make a deal with them before they will transform. This akuma has less evil energy in it that makes it able to enter a person's dreams. From there it can take on any form in an attempt to make a deal." He said, sending the butterfly to land on Adrien's shoulder.
Adrien looked at it, a smile growing on his lips, "I'll be delivering it tonight then," He said, letting the butterfly land on his finger and looking at it happily. Marinette would be his yet.
Chat landed gracefully on Marinette's roof, silently climbing into her room. He smiled upon seeing her sleeping figure, gently sitting on the bed next to her and brushing her bangs out of her face. Marinette was so beautiful…
He held his finger out for the akuma to land on, setting it down to be absorbed into her pillow. He smiled as he watched her, hoping that she was now dreaming good things about him.
Marinette walked into a familiar house, she didn't know how she knew it, but she did. Her feet took her to the kitchen instinctively where she began gathering ingredients. For what, she didn't know.
"Welcome home, my lady," Came a voice in her ear, hands wrapping around her waist.
A warmth bubbled in her chest at the sweet sound of her husband's voice. Her husband? Who was her husband? She turned around in the man's hold, a smile spreading on her lips upon seeing Adrien. But wasn't she mad at him? She couldn't recall them getting into a fight. "It's good to be home, I was just going to start making some croissants for you, I know how much you love them," The sweet tone that left her lips was foreign to her but the warm feeling of love was not.
"You're so good to me~" Adrien purred, leaning in to kiss Marinette slowly.
What once made Marinette's heart rate spike now made her melt as she returned the kiss. She broke away with a small giggle, "Settle down Chaton, we'll have time for that later." Time for what? What was she talking about?
"But you taste so sweet!" Adrien cooed, "Even sweeter than the amazing croissants you make for me," He said lovingly, leaving butterfly kisses on her face. He smiled at her, holding her close, "Be with me forever," He requested.
Marinette felt a yes on the tip of her tongue. But that wasn't right, why wasn't that right? "No," The single word caused a negative reaction, grief and lonesomeness flooding into her, as if she would never feel happiness again.
"No?" Adrien asked with a gentle frown, "Why not? Don't you love me like I love you?"
Marinette could feel hot tears streaking down her face, "No, I love you more."
Adrien walked into class with a stupid smile on his lips, sitting in Alya's seat. She wouldn't be around today either, he wanted the day all to himself with Marinette.
"Adriekins! Why are you sitting next to Marinette's seat?"
He looked up to see Chloe walking through the door and over to him, "Leave me alone Chloe," He said, rolling his eyes and propping his head on his hand as he waited for Marinette.
"What?" She asked, pressing a hand to her chest in offense, "But Adriekins, we've been friends since we were kids!"
A small scowl pulled at the corners of Adrien's lips and he glared at Chloe, "Get it through your thick blonde head, I don't like you, no one does. Now leave me alone," He snapped.
Chloe stood there in shock, her mouth opening and closing a couple times without any words making it out. Everyone else stared at Adrien in the like, he never acted like this, he was never mean to anybody, not even Chloe no matter how much she deserved it sometimes.
"Adrien, dude, what's gotten into you?" Nino asked from his seat in front of Adrien, "You haven't been yourself recently,"
"Maybe I've never been myself and just none of you noticed, you guys ever think of that?" Adrien said with a scoff. That shut everyone up. None of them really knew Adrien until he came to school with them, they didn't know much about his past. None of them except Chloe anyway. The attention suddenly landed on her and for once in her life, she looked like she didn't want it.
It took the teacher walking in and catching their attention for Chloe to go sit down in her seat, looking more timid than she had in her entire life. It put everyone on edge to see the two of them like that, clearly Chloe knew something about what was happening with Adrien, but she didn't look too eager to share.
Adrien frowned slightly and looked at the door. Why wasn't Marinette here yet? He stood up, ignoring the teacher's protests as he walked out of the classroom. He didn't exactly need school anyway, his private tutors at home had him learning at a college level years ago. He didn't need much more education than he already had.
His hands were buried in his pockets as he walked down the street, knowing by heart the way to his love's home. He looked up at the modest bakery as he came around the corner, a small smile pulling at his lips. Marinette always smelled sweet like the pastries she made.
He walked through the front door, sending a charming smile towards Marinette's father who was baking behind the counter, "Hello Mr. Dupeng-Chang, I was just wondering if Marinette was home. She didn't show up at school and I was worried about her,"
The large man was taken aback for a moment, "She's not at school? But she left an hour ago. Oh no, I better go look for her," He said with furrowed brows.
"Oh no, sir," Adrien said, "You don't have to leave your store, I'll look for her and make sure she's safe," He said with a kind smile. He knew the man didn't have complete trust in him, but that was to be expected of a father. "I'll be back before you know it," Adrien said before leaving the bakery. A frown pulled at his lips as he looked around. Perhaps he could cover more ground as Chat Noir.
He bounced from rooftop to rooftop, his sharp emerald eyes scanning the streets. People around him pointed and whispered but he didn't pay them any mind. He didn't care about any of them, he only cared about his princess, his sunshine, his lady, and he would find her.
He stopped with a small growl in his throat, extending his staff and following it up to look over the city. He closed his eyes and listened carefully. His cat ears twitched and he turned his head slightly to the left. There.
He jumped down into the roof below him and caught his staff, making a beeline for his own house.
Marinette banged on the front door of the Agreste Manor, trying to shout through the door, "Mr Agreste! I need to speak to you! It's important!" She kept hitting the door until it finally opened, a breath of relief escaping her.
"Nathalie, right?" Marinette said, sending a small smile to the woman looking down at her, "I need to see Mr Agreste."
The woman stared at her with an unimpressed look before stepping aside, "Come in," She said with an indifferent tone.
Marinette smiled at her weakly and walked through the door, keeping her head down as she thought about what she would say. This was important and she probably wouldn't get another chance to do this.
"Mr Agreste, a young lady is here to see you," Nathalie said as she knocked on a door.
"Send her in,"
Marinette took a deep breath as she watched the door open, walking into the room with a firm look. She took a deep breath as she faced Mr Agreste who was sitting in his desk. "Sir… I, um, I'm Marinette, I go to school with Adrien…" She said, anxiousness swelling in her gut.
"Yes, I know that. Please be quick, I don't have time for nonsense," Mr Agreste said, propping up his elbows on the desk.
"I think Adrien needs help," Marinette blurted out, "He hasn't been himself lately, he's been acting a little… crazy. It's like he's stalking me but not because we have class together but he keeps trying to get close to me and he's threatened my friends," She said, taking a deep breath after her explanation, "I-I think he needs a doctor…"
She could see the frown pulling at Mr Agreste's lips. A pregnant silence filled the room for a long moment before he spoke up, "I know."
Marinette's eye widened in shock, "What? What do you mean you know?" She asked, feeling like pulling her hair out. What was happening?
"Adrien has never had the soundest of minds, it's why he's always been homeschooled," Mr Agreste said calmly.
"He… what?" Was Adrien actually crazy? Has he been like this before? Has he hurt people before?
"It's quite complicated really, but see-" Marinette only caught a glimpse of furious green eyes before the glass window to the office broke.
Leather clad arms wrapped around her and a growl rumbled in here ear, "Stay the fuck away from Marinette," Came Chat's voice.
Mr Agreste frowned deeply and stood up, "Now Adrien, Ms Dupeng-Cheng came to me, we were just discussing something,"
"You told your father?" Marinette screeched with wide eyes. He could have exposed their secret to everybody.
"Shut up," Chat snapped, ignoring Marinette, "I don't want you or any of your filthy little butterflies anywhere near her,"
Marinette had to process that for a moment before her jaw could drop. She ended up stumbling back a step, further into Chat's arms, "You're Hawkmoth?" Adrien's father was Hawkmoth? Chat Noir's Father was Hawkmoth? This whole time he had been so close!
Mr Agreste held his arms up in surrender, "I won't do a thing," He said, treating Adrien as if he were a feral cat.
This wasn't good, not at all. They had been fighting Hawkmoth for three years with no avail, but now… Hawkmoth was afraid of Chat, that was a very scary thought.
The feeling of a nose in her hair made her jump, the deep inhale putting her on edge, "Come on princess, let's ditch this freak," He said, picking her up bridal style and jumping back out of the broken window. He hopped over to the other side of the house before flying through the window of his room and landing gracefully on the floor. "Marinette~" He cooed as he set her down, nuzzling his head into her hair and causing a purr to erupt from the back of his throat.
"C-Chat... " She tried to push him away a little bit, freezing when he saw Chat's leather suit, "Chat, what happened?"
He blinked innocently a couple times before looking down at himself, "Oh, this happened after I combined our miraculouses," He said, tracing a finger over the red outlines on his suit. His belt and tail were also a vibrant shade of red now and the inside of his cat ears, a deep maroon. The thing that caught Marinette's attention the most however were the blood red claws at the tips of each finger on his gloves. The sight of them made her shiver.
Marinette managed to take a step away from him, her lips pulled into a small frown, "Does, um… Does that mean Tikki is with you?" She asked tentatively, a hopeful look in her eyes.
"You mean the bug? Yeah, she's in here," Chat said, pointing at the cuff links on his wrists, red with five black dots on it. Marinette gasped at what she saw, it was her miraculous, her earings. They disappeared as soon as Chat released his transformation, hiding under the rolled up sleeves of his pullover.
"Marinette!"
Marinette gasped as the small red kwami flew into her chest, "Tikki! Are you okay?"
"Marinette you have to take his miraculous from him," The kwami said quickly, "No one was ever meant to wield both miraculouses at once,"
"Shut up you stupid bug," Adrien snapped, pushing Tikki away from Marinette
"She's right, kid," Plagg tried to say, flying over to the other kwami and holding her. Tikki was scared, so was Plagg but he was putting on a brave face.
"I don't want to hear a word out of either of you, you understand me?" Adrien said, glaring at the two, "Now get before I find a box to lock you guys in,"
Marinette watched in horror as the two flew away, having no option but to follow Adrien's orders. They were bound to him by their miraculouses and they couldn't do anything to stop him.
"What are you doing? They're not you slaves," Marinette said, wanting to do something to save her kwami.
"Actually princess, they are," Adrien said with a grin, "They're just like user manuals for miraculouses and I don't need them anymore but since their attached, they can't leave."
Marinette's eyes widened slightly. How could someone once so kind be so cold hearted, "Adrien… what happened to you?"
A sad smile played on Adrien's lips for a mere moment before he shook his head, "Nevermind that, your dad is worried about you since you weren't at school," He said, wrapping an arm around Marinette's waist and kissing the side of her head, "I'll walk you back, it is an awful dangerous city after all," He said with a grin, leading her out of the house.
Marinette sat with herself in her room, sitting on the bed and hugging her knees. She didn't know that to do. She needed to help Adrien but she was in not position to do so without her miraculous. She felt lost without Ladybug. Who was she if not a superhero to the people? SHe was just plain old Marinette who didn't have the guts to take any risks or stand up for anything she believed in.
When she had gotten back to school today everyone was tense. Word of what Adrien had done had spread like wildfire. Not hearing what happened was impossible. It terrified her to know that Adrien had slipped so far, but she wanted to know why. Why was he acting like this?
She bit her lip and pulled out her phone, dialing the one number she never thought she would call voluntarily.
"Chloe speaking."
Ten year old Adrien sighed with a lovesick smile as he stared at Chloe. Their parents had set up another 'playdate' of sorts and they were sitting on the couch watching some reality TV show. "You're so pretty, Chloe," He said, fawning over her.
"Well duh," She said, flipping her hair.
"We should go out sometime," Adrien said, smiling at her, "Like on a date or something,"
Chloe scrunched up her nose in disgust, "Why would I go on a date with you?"
"Aw come on, Chloe," Adrien said, losing none of his enthusiasm, "It would be fun, don't you think?" He had been pinning after her for months even though he got a negative response every time he asked.
"No, I think it would be a waste of time," She said with a scoff, "Why can't Miranda just leave Taylor alone, Taylor is obviously prettier," She said in distress towards the television.
"Why not Chloe?" Adrien asked with a slightly deflated look.
She raised a brow and tore her eyes away from the television to look at him, "Because I don't like you," She said bluntly.
Adrien's smile fell slowly at the denial, "But…" He dropped his head, his bangs covering his eyes. "Why not!" He shouted, jumping up and pushing Chloe down onto the couch.
"Adrien what are you doing?" She asked in distress, "My hair!"
An uncharacteristic scowl graced his lips as he held her down, "Why not, huh?! You don't want to be with me?! I not good enough?" He shouted.
Chloe's eyes were wide in shock, "What are you talking about, Adrien…?" She asked, fear slowly registering in her.
"I'm talking about my love for you," He said with a smile, running his knuckles down her cheek, "And I'm tired of being ignored…"
"Then I started acting like I liked him and he actually got tired of me eventually. I thought he had gone back to normal but I guess not," There was a pause for Chloe spoke up again, "If you tell anyone I said any of that, I'll deny it," She said before hanging up."Then I started acting like I liked him and he actually got tired of me eventually. I thought he had gone back to normal but I guess not," There was a pause for Chloe spoke up again, "If you tell anyone I said any of that, I'll deny it," She said before hanging up.
Wow! It's been a long time. To be honest I kinda dropped this fic and then I rewatched Miraculous and I was like, "Oh my god! I totally have to write this!" So here it is! Leave reviews about what you think! And more importantly, what you think will happen next.